Brown Bag Seminar
Friday, February 10, 2023
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Weber, Classroom II
Presenters:
Joshua Moore
George Blackwell
Kylie Phelps
Joshua Moore
Title:
Performance Characterization of Air Breathing Electric Propulsion
Abstract:
Electric propulsion (EP) thrusters utilize electric and magnetic fields to accelerate propellant ions in their plasma to generate thrust. These thrusters have been rapidly growing in demand, especially in the low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite market. With this growing demand, traditional propellants such as Xenon gas have become prohibitively expensive, imposing a barrier on cost-effectiveness and life span. Air breathing electric propulsion offers a great solution to this problem, allowing potentially limitless propellant supply. This project is interested in investigating the viability of using particles of nitrogen and oxygen present in LEO as a propellant in traditional EP systems. The presented work focuses on simulating the LEO environment and verifying that existing thrusters can operate with the available gas mixture. The work also developed methods for testing propellant intake geometries used to collect the available particles while on orbit.
Advisor:
Dr. Mitchell Walker
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George Blackwell
Title:
SysML 101/201 and Launch Vehicle Sizing
Abstract:
The presentation will cover tutorials and research completed in Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The NASA concept vehicle Habitable Mobility Platform was modeled while learning SysML modeling for space applications. A Matlab program was developed to size to estimate the weight of a reusable single stage to orbit (SSTO) launch Vehicle.
Advisors:
Selcuk Cimtalay for SysML
John Dec for Launch Vehicle Sizing
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Kylie Phelps
Title:
Comparing Resupply Strategies of Satellite Constellations When Considering Different Failure Distributions
Abstract:
One major question that arises when designing large satellites constellations, is how to resupply satellites that have failed. The intent of this research was to explore how a satellite infant mortality failure rate model compares to a uniform failure rate. This was done by creating a simulator in MATLAB that that models various spare resupply strategies using the two failure models described. The resilience of the various spare strategies were evaluated based off the calculated total cost and the constellation’s performance over mission lifetime.
Advisor name:
Professor Koki Ho
Space Systems Optimization Group (SSOG)